ABSTRACT:Eggplant peels were obtained from the peeling of eggplant to obtain a crude juice. Aliquots from the concentrated crude eggplant peel juice, representing, 200, 400 and 800ppm as polyphenols were added to sunflower oil. Samples of sunflower oil mixed with eggplant peel juice were fried intermittently at 180 ± 5ºC for 4 h/day and the frying process was repeated for five consecutive days. A control experiment was performed where butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) at 200ppm was added to sunflower oil prior to intermittent frying in order to compare the antioxidant efficiency between the natural polyphenolics of eggplant peel juice and synthetic antioxidant BHT. Some physical and chemical properties for the unfried and fried sunflower oil were determined. The data indicate that the eggplant peel juice play a good role in enhancement of the oxidative stability of sunflower oil during deep-fat frying process.

ABSTRACT:Metagenomics is the genomic analysis of uncultivable microorganisms by direct extraction and cloning of DNA from environmental samples. As metagenomic is concerned, this field of environmental biotechnology is revolutionizing as 99% of microorganisms are not cultivable at laboratory conditions. The uncultivable microorganisms represent most of organisms in environments on earth. Therefore, offering a powerful scope with advance knowledge in a wide variety of fields such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, medicine etc. However, humic acid contamination is a major hindrance in metagenomic DNA isolation. In the present communication, the authors focus on a new strategy to overcome humic acid contamination in metagenomic DNA isolation. The study also focus on the computational studies of humic acid using semi empirical quantum chemistry methods to understand the possible interaction that might contribute in contaminating metagenomic DNA.

ABSTRACT:Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of Cypermethrin, Chlorpyriphos and Monochrotophos pesticides have been initiated to study the effect of various concentrations of pesticides on microbes isolated from Coccinia grandis. Serial dilutions resulted in ten isolates and the analysis was carried out in triplicates. Disk diffusion method was employed to study the MIC’s of three pesticides, viz. Cypermethrin, Chlorpyriphos and Monochrotophos, respectively at 5, 2 and 1 ml/L concentrations. Analysis revealed cypermethrin as the detrimental pesticide and chloropyriphos as the unaffected pesticide towards six soil isolates. The study suggested the fact that use of few pesticides on agricultural fields to control pests would be deleterious to soil bacteria, and the analysis revealed that the most of the microbes are resistant to chlorpyriphos and hence use of this pesticide retains the symbiotic bacteria of soil.

ABSTRACT:An International Symposium on Plant Biotechnology towards Tolerance to Stresses and Enhancing Crop Yield (ISPB-2011) was organized by Department of Biotechnology, Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi, India in association with Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums (IINRG), Namkum, Ranchi, India; Central Tasar Research & Training Institute (CTR & TI), Piska Nagari, Ranchi, India; Institute of Forest Productivity (IFP), Lalgutawa, Ranchi, India; AoB PLANTS, UK and Biotech Research Society (BRSI), India at BIT Mesra, Ranchi, India during September 28 to October 01, 2011. The aim of the ISPB-2011 was to provide updates on the latest biotechnological advances through peer-reviewed paper presentations, essential and emerging topics for combating the todays unfavorable environmental conditions, share the pioneering ideas and experiences from the academic leaders and researchers, and personnel from top industries as well as formulating better research directions to meet the current challenges. Nearly 300 participants (including 36 overseas participants representing 16 countries) attended the ISPB-2011 meeting (Figure 1). More than 170 abstracts were received and reviewed by a panel of experts for their suitability and inclusion in various themes of the Symposium. Total 151 abstracts (representing Key Speaker and Special Session, Abiotic and Biotic Stress Session, Crop Improvement and Breeding Session, Proteomics and Metabolomics Session, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Session, Functional Genomics Session as well as Policy Issues Sessions) were recommended for presentation and printing in ISPB-2011 proceeding.

ABSTRACT:Biodegradable polymer plays a predominant role as a biodegradable plastic due to their hydrolysable ester bonds. PHB is accumulated inside a variety of microorganisms under appropriate conditions such as the presence of nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, iron or essential vitamins. The main advantage of PHB is that, due to their biological origin, they are degraded naturally and completely to carbon dioxide and water under natural environment by the enzymatic activities of microbes. The present study reports the isolation of marine bacteria and subsequent PHB production under normal conditions. It was observed that a marine isolate was able to produce nearly 40% of PHB granules as nutrient resource.